Day 43 - Back to Sitka, AK

Today I sailed on the ferry to Sitka, AK for the second time. This will be my fourth and final trip of the summer. On one hand, I am really glad I got to see lots of the Southeastern part of the state but, on the other hand, it will be nice to settle down and spend the last 2 and a half weeks in Juneau - sleeping in the same bed every night, interacting with people I know, and falling back into a routine. Of the 30 days in June I probably spent only 4 or 5 in my UAS housing. In addition to getting to settle back into a routine, I also won't have to hear my alarm go off at 6 AM to catch another ferry or plane until I head back home July 18th!

The ferry ride was pretty neat today. For some reason, the were a whole bunch of humpback whales the surrounded the vessel the entire ride. It was neat to see them shoot off spouts of water and breach. The ferry vessel has a naturalist aboard who comes over the intercom every time he sees wildlife in the water or on the nearby shorelines. Since there were so many whales today he came on every 5 minutes, "Whales starboard" or "Whales port side". His messages were followed by the boat's passengers running from one side of the ferry to another, crawling over each other hoping to catch a two second glimpse of a whale 500 yards away. It was like a 4 hour track meet from one side of the boat to another. Definitely not an environment conducive to sleeping.

I learned from my mistake last time and avoided a costly taxi from the ferry terminal to Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital. Instead, I utilized the Community Ride to get around town and get to my housing. The housing staff was prepared for my arrival this time - no surprises - and they even had a couple of extra perks that I did not have the last time. I now get access to the short term housing weight room and I was given the security password for the wireless internet connection in my room.

I spent just a few hours in the clinic today collecting phone numbers and gearing up for the final few days of surveying. Last time I was in Sitka the weather was really cold and rainy, but today was sunny and warm so I decided to see some parts of the city I didn't get to see the last time I was here. I took the Community Ride to Whale Park (since I didn't get enough whale viewing on the ferry). The park was really nice. There were boardwalks that went down to the coastline and there were binoculars that you could use to look out into the water to try and spot whales, sea lions, seals, or anything else that lives in the ocean. I was going to try and walk to the nearby Bear Fortress, a bear rehabilitation center, but as soon as I started to head in that direction it began to rain.

Instead, I went back into downtown Sitka and ate dinner. I ate at a Mexican place called Agave. Most of their food is cooked with Agave nectar, a honey like substance, and it was pretty good. Even though I get the meals from the diet office I felt I could let loose on a well-deserved, good meal after 6 weeks of hard work. On my way back to the hospital I stopped at historic Castle Hill. Initially, Castle Hill was an important spot for the Tlingit natives. Since it is elevated, the Tlingits built many of their most important buildings atop this hill. Eventually, the Russians invaded Sitka and overtook the hill, using it as an important epicenter for their enormous fur trade. In modern history, Castle Hill holds a lot of importance to the statehooddd of Alaska. When the US government purchased Alaska from Russia, Castle Hill was the ceremonial location where the Russian flag was lowered and the US flag was raised for the first time. Also, once Alaska became the 49th state of the United States, the first flag with 49 stars flew at Castle Hill.

Other than that there wasn't much going on today. Tomorrow will be busy with phone calls and surveying in the morning and patient interviewing in the OB clinic all afternoon. I am excited to see how many OB patients filled out the surveys I left with Valerie last week. I also want to stop by and meet with Martha Pearson and Litia Garrison again to update them on the progression of ideas for my patient education material.

Early morning this morning so that means an early night tonight...